Secret interview techniques
I am terrified of getting a job in the games industry. The number of people who graduate a games design school every year is almost the same as the number of people who have jobs. Now, in an interview, I’d kill it. But jobs in Game Design are a bit different to other jobs. We work in teams, which means that team co-operation and communication is essential. This means that what most employers in this industry are looking for is not the best talent, but the best fit to the team. This only gets more important when the team is small, like an indie team, like one that I want to work in. I used to live in Melbourne, and apart from the awful weather, the snobby people and the ridiculous amount of cafes it also has a thriving games industry. I have had the opportunity to meet and greet with people who are already in the industry and get a good insight into what they look for in a team member. Most of the things I learnt from these industry professionals when it comes to hiring is that people are looking for trust. With such close-quarters teams it goes far beyond simply working with others, it becomes depending on each other. Pipelines, deadlines, workflow and hiccups can become incomprehensible mazes that can be messed up by one person’s screw-ups. Sharing art and design principles can be a very personal experience for some designers, so those you work with need to be those you can trust. People in this industry need to know who you are. They need to know what you do, what you are like and that you can trust me. If people don’t know me, they should at least know people who can vouch for me. These types of teams require spending a lot of time with people in a small space for weeks at a time. You don’t want to be trapped with people you don’t like making games. It can ruin the experience.
